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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Flirts! Name Before The Masses Tour

Presented by Goddess Fish Promotions

Blurb: Every volume of the Flirts! Collection features five sweet, funny romantic short stories, linked by a loose thread. It all ties up in a fab, fun ending, bringing together characters from all the stories in that collection. Each short story is 8,000-12,000 words long--the perfect length to squeeze in during your lunch break or kids' practices. Sometimes you need a little love!

About the author:Lisa Scott is a former TV news anchor who now enjoys making up stories instead of sticking to the facts. The first book in her Willowdale Romance series will be released by Belle Bridge books in November 2012. In the meantime, she'll be releasing short stories linked to the Willowdale series, in addition to her Flirts! collections.

When not begging her husband and two kids for a few minutes of peace to write her stories, she works as a voice actor and putters around in her koi pond and garden in upstate NY.

Guest Post by Lisa ScottI am an idea junkie. I have so many ideas for stories it’s frustrating, because you can’t chase down every potential story line. Writing romantic short stories turned out to be the perfect solution for me. My shorts are a bit longer than most; Bermuda shorts instead of Daisy Dukes, you could say. Technically, I’m writing novelettes at 8,000 to 12,000 words each, but who’s ever heard of a novelette? So I call them shorts. Whatever they are, they’re the right length for me to get my ideas out and tell a fun little story, and long enough for someone to enjoy on a lunch break or during their kids’ practices.

So where do all of these ideas come from? Everywhere—newspaper headlines, chats with friends, and even tidbits from strangers. I never totally copy the stories I hear, they merely serve as kindling for something I hope turns out to be sweet, funny and romantic.

When my accountant mentioned his son and stepdaughter had gotten married, I nearly ran out of his office so I could spin that into a story. (And I did. You’ll find it in Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories.) I have a friend who has inspired so many stories, I’d be lost without her. Like “Never Been Dumped” in Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories. Its about a woman sick of dating because she’s always the one doing the dumping. (Which my friend once confessed to me.) In my story, a man in town for the summer promises to dump her when his visit’s over, and she agrees. But can they say goodbye?

Sometimes, the stories are inspired by the theme I’ve chosen for my collections. In Beach Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories, I came up with the titles for a few stories before I knew what they’d be about. I knew I had to write a story called “Ex on the Beach.” The title came first, and the story followed. Other times, the story finds me first. I knew I wanted to write a story about a woman who’d lost weight and hadn’t found the confidence yet to be comfortable at the beach. That grew into “She’s Hot Now.” I loved that title, because there’s a bit of a slam in there. How much that must hurt to hear, “Oh, you’re hot now.”

The ideas come from everywhere. I could probably write more Flirts! collections for several years. But I’m also working on a series of romance novels set in fictional Willowdale, North Carolina. The first in the series, No Foolin’, due out in November from Bell Books, was born when I saw a really hot guy climb into a car with California plates in my tiny upstate New York town. I couldn’t stop thinking about why he was here. He looked like a movie star and he’d come out of a restaurant alone. What was his story? That eventually led to the plot for No Foolin’ where a small town girl poses as a movie star’s boyfriend to help him hide the secret that brought him to town.

I’m not a people watcher so much, but I do love chatting up strangers and learning what their life is like. People really intrigue me. Some folks have been through so much and persevere. Others have had amazing, exciting things happen to them. So if you ever meet me, careful what you tell me. It might inspire my next short story. (Fine. My next novellete.)"Washed Up" excerpt (story #4) in the Beach Flirts! collection

He woke to darkness and pain, with a pounding head and churning stomach; but soft lips crushed against his, so the night couldn’t have been that bad. His mouth moved in response, and he reached to find the body attached to those remarkable lips. He wrapped one hand around the back of her neck, while the other trailed further south over her collarbone, cupping a round, firm…

Slap! His eyes opened to an explosion of light. Then he sat up and puked. Seawater spewed from his mouth and someone rolled him onto his side.

“He’s okay, but get the lifeguard!” a woman shouted. She rubbed his arm. “You’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

This wasn’t exactly his definition of fine. He blinked away salty brine and fell back on the sand. “What the hell happened?” He looked up at the woman—petite, with dark eyes, and long hair that glowed in the sun.

“I’m not sure. I found you washed up here.”

He winced at the familiar phrase. Just ask his agent, who hadn’t been able to land him so much as a mall opening in the past three years.

“And then you kissed me?” he asked. Crazy fans had tried worse. At least duct tape and handcuffs hadn’t been involved this time; an actor without his sense of humor might have pressed charges.

“Kiss you?” She rolled her eyes. “Ever heard of CPR? I was a lifeguard in high school. You kissed me, and then you tried…” she winced.

"The Hot Girl's Friend"excerpt #1 from the Flirts! Collection

We boogied to the hip song of the moment and soon enough, a few gutsy gals left the security of the scattered tables and joined us. Then the drunker of the men crowded the floor, probably wondering if they should shoot for the top and approach Miranda or pick one of us “lesser” girls—like they could flatter us into bed by flirting with us first. For the most part, men at bars are idiots. Newsflash, I know.

“You with the hot chick?” a short, curly-haired guy asked, bumping his hip into mine in some pretense of a dance move.

I bumped back hard enough that he had to catch his balance. “If you mean the tall blonde, yes, I am.”

Out came another bad dance move, with him jiggling his hands like he was shaking a Martini. “She available?”

I shook my head and gave him the bad news. “Not exactly. She starts her prison sentence tomorrow. This is kind of a last hurrah.”

His bushy eyebrows scrunched as he recalculated his plan of attack, not quite ready to give up the chase. Perhaps prison stripes are a turn-on for some guys.

I shrugged. “I suppose she could use a pen pal. Although her ex might be writing to her, too. He seems to have gotten over the whole stabbing thing. You really only need one testicle, right?” I boogied away from him and started getting my excuses ready for the string of men who would soon be lining up to meet the second most appealing woman in the bar—the hot chick’s best friend. Always a good girl to know when trying to make your move. At least, that’s what the men seemed to think.

"Spooked by Love" story excerpt #1 from Holiday Flirts!

“So, I’m invited to a grownup Halloween party next weekend. Would you like to come? We’ve already got fabulous costumes.” He waggled his eyebrows.

I blew out a long breath. My heart was shouting ‘yes,’ but my brain stamped its foot ‘no’—kind of like Chelsea often did. “I don’t think so.”

Jeff snapped his fingers. “Wait, just a minute. I know what the problem is. I’ll be right back.” He dashed over to the big cauldron of candy and goodies set up on a banquet table, dug through the treats inside, and hurried back. He sat down and stared at me, all serious. Then he smiled, showing off neon-green vampire teeth. “Do you ‘vant to go out ‘vith me now?” he said, with a deep, sultry, Dracula accent.

Frowning, he lost the accent. “I heard women are really into vampires these days.” He shrugged. “Did my sister lie to me about that?”

My lips twitched into a smile. This guy could’ve been a new hot member of the Cullen family from Twilight, but I still wouldn’t go out with him. “I’m sorry, not even the sexiest, pointiest, vampire teeth could tempt me.”

He leaned across the table towards me, lowering his voice. “I’m a police officer. Are women into police officers these days? I’ve got the uniform and everything.”

I giggled—and I am so not a giggler. “I’m sure plenty of women have a thing for police officers.”

AUTHOR GIVEAWAY:

Lisa Scott is giving away a $10 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter and to the host with the most comments. Leave a comment below and you will be entered. If you follow the tour and comment along the stops, you will better your chances of winning.

I've read the first two, and I loved them. I like it how you find a way to link all the stories together somehow and then they all come together in the end in the last story. Love it love it love it. :DThank you!TayteH

Thanks so much everyone! I'm glad you liked them, Tayte. Linking the stories is so much fun.Catherine, fictional Willowdale is in western North Carolina. A small town in the mountains. I love North Carolina, and one of my first critique partners is from there and I fell in love with her stories based in North Carolina. Plus very often, the voices in my head have a southern accent. ;)

Sorry I missed party day again. PTB are sticking it to me lately! Hope to be back on track next week! I'm in NC too. Moved here from MI in 1999 and have loved every minute of it. Haven'te spent a lot of time in the mountains except for a couple of days in the Great Smokey National Park. Absolutely beautiful there!